Fall Tips for Your Denver Landscape Design

October 30, 2015

Fall is a perfect time for enjoying and preparing your landscape design. The autumn months are many peoples’ favorite time of year. The kids are back in school, football is on and the holiday season is starting. After the equinox, the afternoon sunlight through the thinning trees casts everything in a golden light, making colors more vivid and magical. The fallen leaves and crisp air start getting us ready for the eventual winter months of the cold and snow. My Landscaper has some great suggestions for both decorating, and making use of this fun and festive time of year.

Outdoor Décor: When the colors of fall are reflected in small decorations, festive potted plants, and other ornaments throughout your home and property, the season truly comes alive all around you. Gourds and pumpkins can line your walkway, entryways, and other hardscapes from the start of your driveway, around the outside of the home, and onto your patio and back property lines. Stalks of multi-colored Indian corn on the front door and your mailbox, along with small wreaths placed on windows can add personal and unique touches throughout the season of harvest and celebration.

Potted plants for Fall Color: With summer officially over, consider replacing your summer blossoms with plants that thrive this time of the year. Coral Belts, Coleus, Ornamental Cabbage, Fall Asters, Mums, Pansies, Purple Fountain Grass, and Violas are all colorful and partial to fall weather. After choosing those you like the most, take a moment after planting to take a few steps back and look at your arrangement from different angles and vantage points. You might find just a few subtle movements and placement can make all the difference.

Best Trees for Fall Color: The Oak species are ideal for the Colorado climate and soil. Chinkapin Oak offers a yellow not unlike those of Aspens, while English Oak is more golden and Northern Red Oak offers a bronze to wine red color in the foliage. Maples like Amur, Bigtooth, Autumn Blaze, and Tatarian yield a bounty of orange-red color and fit perfectly with the high altitude and climate of the Denver area. There are two varieties of Ash exquisite for the cooler months. Autumn Purple – like the name suggests – is a mixture of gold to bronze into purple. Fall Gold turns a gorgeous yellow.

Compost Fall Leaves: For all of your flowers, trees, and shrubbery, fallen leaves can be an inexpensive and valuable commodity to keep your soil productive throughout the fall and winter months. If your HOA allows them, the minimum size for a compost bin is three feet by three feet by three feet. If your bin is larger than six feet across it may slow the process by restricting the oxygen flow. Mixing some nitrogen into the leaves as you add them since leaves are high in carbon – this makes for great compost for all the new planting you’ve done. This can be done with organic lawn fertilizer or other fresh, green organic matter.

If you are unsure of how you want to decorate your yard or how to prepare for fall, give My Landscaper a call today. And have a Halloween!!